Electric power supply system, in particular in an aircraft

Abstract

A fail-safe electrical power supply system ( 11 ), in particular in an aircraft, does not require any hardware, control-engineering or wiring complexity for an emergency power supply, which need be started up only when required, if, on the output side, the normal supply has parallel-connected supply modules ( 13 ) such as rechargeable batteries or, in particular, fuel cells, which are each loaded as far as possible at the optimum operating point or efficiency, but in any case below their maximum load capacity. If there are a sufficient number of modules ( 13 ), on the basis of this power difference, the spare power and energy which are kept available are sufficient to continuously satisfy the power demand of the connected loads, provided that only at least one module ( 13 ) remains serviceable. A module ( 13 ) which has not failed is then admittedly operated at lower efficiency but still in the permissible low range, ensuring that the operating supply to the loads is maintained without interruption.

1 . An electrical power supply system, in particular for a load network in an aircraft, characterized in that a plurality of power supply modules which are operated in parallel below their maximum load capacity are connected to the network. 
     
     
         2 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the modules are designed for loading at the optimum operating point or efficiency. 
     
     
         3 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the number of interconnected modules is at least as great as the quotient of the powers of the maximum and optimum load of the modules. 
     
     
         4 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the modules are connected to the power supply system, distributed over the network. 
     
     
         5 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the number of modules which exceeds the power quotients are in each case connected to the network, combined to form groups. 
     
     
         6 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the groups are connected to the power supply system, distributed over the network. 
     
     
         7 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein groups combined to form superordinate systems are connected to the network. 
     
     
         8 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein modules with the same power quotients are designed with different hardware. 
     
     
         9 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein each module is connected to its own peripheral. 
     
     
         10 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein modules which are combined in groups are connected to a common peripheral. 
     
     
         11 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein rechargeable batteries, which are recharged from a generator or on the ground or are replaced, are provided as passive modules. 
     
     
         12 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein fuel cells are provided as active modules. 
     
     
         13 . The power supply system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein decoupling circuits are provided between the modules and the network.